Artistic Inspiration on the Danube

Author and illustrator Angela Staehling uncovered her inventive inspiration with us this earlier April aboard Coronary heart of the Danube: Bavaria to Budapest – and chronicled her journey in a collection of illustrations, correctly capturing the essence of the river cruise in her artwork! She shared her story with us in a current interview:

Q & A with Angela

Q. It appears to be like this is your 1st time touring with Tauck, how did you listen to about us?

A. My partner is a journey agent and is familiar with that Tauck has often been a person of the foremost makes in luxury journey. A Tauck river cruise has been on our bucket checklist for several years, and hopefully this will be the very first of several extra Tauck excursions to arrive.

Q. You have a playful, eye-catching, style of art – can you convey to us how you explain it?

A. My art design and style has altered rather a little bit more than the a long time. I have been coming up with dwelling décor and present merchandise for in excess of 20 decades and my model has evolved from extremely-real looking to a a lot more entertaining, vibrant representation. Nowadays, I enjoy illustrating in a a lot looser type with bold, vivid hues. Though a great deal of my art has a dependable type, I do get the job done in a wide range of mediums and other designs. I also operate with numerous clientele on job-dependent art and my types will transform to satisfy their demands.

Q. Why did you decide to vacation with us on The Heart of the Danube river cruise?

A. With so a lot of tour choices in Europe, we made the decision to get started with one of the staples, that currently being The Heart of the Danube. Although Munich, Vienna, and Budapest are a handful of of our preferred metropolitan areas, we by no means experienced a likelihood to take a look at some of the more compact cities along the river. We understood that Tauck’s quite a few excursion solutions and tour manual connections would enable us embrace the area in a more intimate way.

Q. You were being obviously encouraged by what you noticed cruising together the Danube, can you convey to us a little bit about the feelings you experienced and what motivated you to sit down and generate Even though you were touring?

A. I comprehensively appreciated our Danube cruise as there had been so lots of picturesque towns and pastoral landscapes from which to get inspiration. The calming speed of the excursion authorized me to carve out time to illustrate whilst making the most of the sights. Lots of instances, I would go for a stroll and explore the very little villages with our tour group, or even alone, taking numerous pictures along the way. I would even go for a bicycle journey with 1 of the on-board bikes to soak in as substantially of the countryside as doable together our many stops. Although I was not anticipating to get as much illustration accomplished when traveling as I did, I was joyful to squeeze in a few renderings while on board. Of course, I took quite a few pictures to use as reference for long term illustrations even though I’m at home.

Q. We found you had been working with a exclusive kind of pen for your river cruise operate, is that your normal medium, and if you have extra, what is your favourite?

A. I acquired a range of paint markers from Blick Artwork Materials before our vacation. I typically work with liquid acrylic paints back again property, but knew that liquid paints would be tricky to vacation with. I required to find an art medium that would be less complicated to tote about, however have the similar opaque style that I am made use of to operating in. I acquired a wide range of marker colours and sizes from Posca and Molotow brands and was rather happy with the similarity in look to real paints.

Q. Do you frequently consider your get the job done on the road with you and build whilst you travel?

A. I do try out and choose a sketchbook with me each time I travel. On the other hand, it is not generally easy to obtain the time to illustrate while touring. The most effective moments for me to illustrate though touring are ordinarily when I’m commuting, these kinds of as on a airplane, coach, or boat, in this case. If we have downtime at a hotel, or other accommodation, I will check out to illustrate a location from our travels.

Q. In which will you travel subsequent?

A. We have a family trip this summer to Iceland, Copenhagen, and Sweden. We are traveling with an additional household and are hoping to check out other good friends who stay in the area.

Q. Have you often been an artist? Or is this some thing that came to you afterwards in existence?

A. I have usually liked illustrating ever since I was a child. I acquired my degree in Graphic Design and style from the College of Illinois and labored in a number of advertising companies out of college or university. Soon after about 5 several years working as an art director, I shifted my job to portray murals in peoples’ households and organizations. I also designed commissioned artwork and would offer authentic paintings in area shops. Soon later on, I learned the entire world of artwork licensing, in which I would develop layouts and license my artwork to residence decor brands. These companies create products and solutions such as dinnerware, stationery, wall art, and textiles, and market to suppliers around the globe. I carry on to get the job done with these brands now to license my art on this sort of household decor items. Similarly, I produce and market some of my possess goods through my website and Etsy Shop.

Q. You have just prepared and illustrated a e book “How to Pet a Cat” is that your to start with? Notify us about that approach.

A. “How to Pet a Cat” is my next ebook. My 1st ebook is termed, “Happy Houseplants”. I have a appreciate for cats, crops, and of program, journey. So composing and illustrating a ebook about these subjects is a desire come genuine for me! It only appears fitting that I get the job done on some vacation guides shortly – that is my would like! The method of producing and illustrating a e-book is actually a work of artwork in itself. There is a good deal of time and study that goes into the writing, as perfectly as developing the artwork. I was fortunate to collaborate with a person of the foremost publishers of greatest-providing gift and art publications, Chronicle Books. My How to Pet a Cat reserve is now readily available as a result of most on-line and brick and mortar retailers, like Barnes & Noble, Goal, and Amazon.

Q. How can persons see and discover out a lot more about your artwork?

A. You can see my work on my website, AngelaStaehling.com and Etsy Store please never wait to attain out by way of my website right here, or my e-mail at: angela@angelastaehling.com

Angela can also be found on Instagram and Fb